The number of deaths linked to the novel coronavirus reached 100,000 on Friday, as the tally of total cases worldwide passed 1.6 million. In Pakistan, the nationwide tally of COVID-19 patients soared past 4,700 on Friday, with 2,279 cases reported in Punjab, 1,214 in Sindh, 656 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 220 in Balochistan, 215 in Gilgit Baltistan, 107 in Islamabad and 33 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus has claimed 69 lives so far, while at least 556 coronavirus patients have recovered.
The first-ever death came in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Jan 9. It took 83 days for the first 50,000 deaths to be recorded and just eight more for the toll to climb to 100,000. The toll has been accelerating at a daily rate of between 6% and 10% over the past week, and there were almost 7,300 deaths globally reported on Thursday.
The death toll now compares with that of London’s Great Plague in the mid-1660s, which killed an estimated 100,000 people, about a third of the city’s population at the time. But it is still far short of the so-called Spanish flu, which began in 1918 and is estimated to have killed more than 20 million people by the time it petered out in 1920.
In Pakistan, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said 86 new cases of novel coronavirus were reported across the province on Friday, taking the provincial tally to 1214. In a video statement, the chief minister said one more person has died from COVID-19 during the last 24 hours. He said the death toll in Sindh province stands at 22. The chief minister cautioned that the spread of the coronavirus needs to be contained amid a rising number of cases in the province. “All the cases emerging now are locally transmitted and we have to contain [the virus],” he said in the video message.
Another 70 individuals kept in isolated quarantine facility in Sukkur were declared fit and healthy after spending more than 14 days by themselves. Commissioner Sukkur Division Shafique Ahmed Mahesar said that a total of 40 pilgrims currently in the facility were tested out of which 30 tested negative for coronavirus. Ten of the initial 40 tested positive for coronavirus, the infected will be tested again. Seventy pilgrims who have been given a clean bill of health have departed for their homes after final approval from the doctors.
The number of deaths due to coronavirus on Friday surged to three in Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, as another patient succumbed to the deadly virus.
According to the administration of the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Lower Dir, the patient hailing from Ribat was refereed to Peshawar after testing positive for the virus. Five of the close relatives of the deceased have tested negative for the COVID-19. The number of deaths in Lower Dir has soared to three, said the DHQ officials.
Former member of National Assembly and PML-N leader Babar Nawaz Khan has tested positive for COVID-19 in Haripur. The PML-N leader had been suffering from severe fever and respiratory problems over the last two days after which his samples were sent to PIMS Islamabad by Haripur DHQ. He has currently been quarantined at home.
In Islamabad, spokesperson for Petroleum Division confirmed that one officer of Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) has been tested positive for coronavirus. The officer was posted in Petroleum House situated in G5 Islamabad. The officer is currently in isolation and all measures are being taken to provide the best medical care to him, the spokesman said. The said officer is not attending office since March 20, and since then, no new case of infection has been reported, he added.
